Casual Game Design: Designing Play for the Gamer in ALL of Us

✍ Scribed by Gregory Trefry

• Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 253
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

When I saw this book I wondered how someone could write a whole book on casual game design. I mean, we all play games--we know how games work. Beyond that, don't you just need a moment of creativity and then you put it together and you have a new game? You can't learn to be creative by reading a book, right? So out of sheer curiosity, I got the book.

Turns out, it was an interesting read... well, at least the first 1/2. Not that the 2nd 1/2 was bad--don't get me wrong, but the most interesting stuff was at the beginning. The last sections seemed to get a little bogged down going through all sorts of examples of actual games which, I'm sure I would have appreciated more if I was actually trying to develop a new game and not just reading about game development from an academic standpoint. Throughout the book, the author talks about why we play games, what we like about them, and what sorts of things turn us on or off toward playing a certain game. Not only does this apply to the actual mechanics of the game itself, but he also teaches us what sorts of things to avoid in things like the written rules and other aspects of the game.

I'll be honest, I didn't realize there was so much to games. As the author points out, we tend to take most games for granted--they have been around for so long, it's hard to imagine life without them. An example he gives is tag. Tag is a game that every child seems to know, and yet it has a set of rules and these rules are dynamic and changeable within the constraints of the group playing it (which is how we get house rules).

I think this book is best suited for the budding game developer who likes to make up games as a hobby. I'm inclined to think that a professional game developer will probably already know a lot of the material in the book... but maybe he/she will have something to gain from it, I don't know--that's not my field. For the rest of the population, this is a great book to get from a library (if you can find it) but once you've read it, I doubt you'll want to come back and read it again. Still, it is an interesting journey into your own mind to see how you think and what you consider fun--something you already know but only subconsciously.

✦ Table of Contents

Morgan Kaufmann - Casual Game Design (2010) (ATTiCA)......Page 1
Acknowledgments......Page 6
Introduction......Page 7
What Is Casual Gaming?......Page 13
It Started in Solitude......Page 14
Bedazzled......Page 16
The Next Swing in Casual Gaming......Page 19
Casual Queens versus Genre Kings......Page 22
Why Now?......Page 23
Summary......Page 24
The Role of the Game Designer......Page 25
Board Game Designers......Page 29
Work as Part of the Team......Page 30
Generate the Concept......Page 31
Craft the Rules......Page 38
Can’t vs. Must......Page 39
Tell the Rules Like a Story......Page 40
Write Game and Software Specifications......Page 41
General Summary......Page 42
General Look and Feel......Page 43
Summary of Gameplay......Page 44
Information Architecture......Page 45
Specifications for Specific Features......Page 47
Guide the Implementation......Page 48
Playtest the Game......Page 49
Design the Levels......Page 53
Be Empathetic......Page 54
Ease Players into the Game......Page 55
Teach Players to Play the Level......Page 56
Create a Plan......Page 57
Becoming a Game Designer......Page 58
Why Be a Casual Game Designer?......Page 61
Summary......Page 62
Play Is the Thing......Page 63
The Liminal Moment......Page 64
The Rush to Complexity......Page 65
The Push toward Simplicity......Page 68
Patterns of Play......Page 69
Physical Play......Page 71
Playing with Others......Page 74
Playing with Things......Page 75
Playacting......Page 78
Daredevilry/Push-Your-Luck......Page 82
Defining Games......Page 84
A Designer’s Definition......Page 85
Intrinsic Qualities......Page 86
Extrinsic Qualities......Page 87
Summary......Page 89
Bejeweled: The Casual Ideal......Page 90
LEGO Fever and Luxor: The Necessity of Constraints......Page 99
Snood: Matching as Means to an End......Page 103
Summary......Page 110
Sorting......Page 112
Klondike Solitaire vs. Spider Solitaire: More Choices, More Complexity......Page 113
Drop 7: Foiled by Randomness......Page 120
Wurdle vs. Bookworm: The Replacements......Page 123
Jojo’s Fashion Show: Sorting the World Through Play......Page 129
Summary......Page 138
Seeking......Page 139
Mystery Case Files: Huntsville: Simple Seek-and-Find......Page 142
Azada: Introducing Logic to Seeking......Page 145
Summary......Page 147
Managing......Page 149
Diner Dash: Spinning Plates......Page 150
Cake Mania: Managing and Matching......Page 155
Managing Attention......Page 156
Insaniquarium: Overwhelming Yourself......Page 157
Flight Control: Being Overwhelmed......Page 159
Summary......Page 163
Hitting......Page 165
Natural Feedback......Page 166
Scaling with Skill......Page 167
Whac-A-Mole: 30 Seconds of Primal Pleasure......Page 169
Wii Tennis: The Swing Is the Thing......Page 173
Summary......Page 175
Chaining......Page 177
Diner Dash: Pushing Your Luck......Page 180
Summary......Page 185
Constructing......Page 186
Tetris and Crayon Physics: Two Approaches to Building......Page 188
Creative Construction......Page 194
Line Rider: A Toy for Self-Expression......Page 195
Top Chef: A Game for Self-Expression......Page 198
Summary......Page 203
Bouncing, Tossing, Rolling and Stacking......Page 205
Bow Man 2: Experimentation and Repetition......Page 206
Paper Toss: Simple Choices with Unclear Outcomes......Page 209
Jenga: The Inherent Drama of Gravity......Page 212
World of Goo: From Toy to Game......Page 214
Peggle: Balancing Mystery and Legibility......Page 219
Summary......Page 222
Socializing......Page 223
Apples to Apples: Reading People, Not the Game......Page 225
Rock Band: Becoming a Band......Page 228
What to Wear: Tapping the Wisdom of Crowds......Page 233
Summary......Page 241
Index......Page 243

✦ Subjects

Библиотека;Компьютерная литература;Разработка игр;